RMS Lusitania, shown here arriving in New York, was a British liner that briefly held the title of the world’s largest passenger ship when it launched in 1906.

The sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, 100 years ago today, resulted in the deaths of 128 Americans. Number 129 might have been one of the founders of Alabama Power, had another tragedy not kept him in the U.S.

Leah Atkins’ history of Alabama Power, “Developed for the Service of Alabama,” details James Mitchell’s leadership and relentless work ethic.

James Mitchell (1866-1920) was president of Alabama Power from 1912 to 1913 and again from 1915 to 1920. As a young man he helped develop electrical railway systems and build a hydroelectric dam in Brazil. According to Leah Atkins’ history of Alabama Power, “Developed for the Service of Alabama,” he was an indefatigable and resourceful worker with “great personal charm.”

Upon becoming president on May 1, 1912, Mitchell spoke about “a new Alabama and a new South, no longer poor but proud…. Not only would ordinary creature comforts follow in the wake of electricity, but there would be better educational facilities, better roads, and better homes.”

World War I affected Alabama Power in many ways. In 1914, most new plant construction was stopped until work began two years later on the Warrior Reserve (Gorgas) Steam Plant. In October 1915, facing a halt in capital funds from England, Mitchell led the company’s bondholders to defer interest payments for three years.

In 1918, following U.S. entry into the war, the company donated its hydroelectric site at Muscle Shoals to the U.S. government for one dollar, its power aiding the manufacture of nitrates used in explosives.

“A check for one single dollar holds the place of honor on the walls of the big offices of the Alabama Power Company,” read the May 1921 Powergrams. “But deep in the hearts of the men of the Alabama Company is a glow of pleasure [in] the sense of a good deed well done – the certainty of having answered duty’s call when a nation was in peril.”

 One tragedy prevents another

The Lusitania tragedy resulted from an attack by a German U-boat.

On Feb. 4, 1915, Germany announced that the sea surrounding the British Isles would be considered a war zone. Merchant ships – even those of neutral nations, which included, at the time, the United States – would be subject to attack by Germany without warning.

In April, Mitchell booked passage to England on the British liner Lusitania, scheduled to travel from New York City to Liverpool. He was familiar with the ship, having been a passenger numerous times. However, on the fateful trip in which the ship was sunk by a German U-boat, killing 1,198 passengers, he was not on board.

“His name was on the front page of the London Times as one who died in the attack,” Atkins said. “So why did he not get on that ship? It was just not like him.”

Atkins discovered the probable reason: his nephew Nathaniel William Tileston, an Alabama Power worker, had been killed by an electrical shock and fall while working at Gadsden Steam Plant on April 7, 1915.

“Mitchell was in New York City, waiting to sail, when he got a telegram or call that his nephew was killed,” said Atkins. “He had a very close-knit and large family. So he stayed in New York to catch the train bringing the body to his family plot in Massachusetts.”

Mitchell’s wife, “scanning newspaper lists with red eyes,” was no doubt relieved a day later when she learned the truth. But the joy was tempered by the tragedy that befell her sister-in-law’s son.

The lasting impact of war

This was not the last time the Mitchells would be touched by World War I. Many Alabama Power employees and their sons fought “over there.” Mitchell’s son Malcolm, a student at Cornell, volunteered for service in Europe.

In 1920 Mitchell became ill and resigned as president of Alabama Power. According to Atkins’ book, he told his successor, Tom Martin, that he wanted the company “to be an asset” to the state.

“As Alabama grows,” Mitchell said, “so will the company.”